


From the Ashes

by IceBlueRose



Category: DC's Legends of Tomorrow (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/M, Gen, Implied/Referenced Character Death, Inspired by Teen Wolf (TV)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-05
Updated: 2017-12-05
Packaged: 2019-02-10 21:06:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,238
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12920256
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/IceBlueRose/pseuds/IceBlueRose
Summary: Most of her pack has been murdered. Laurel is going to let herself have a moment to break and once she's done, she'll be the alpha that her pack needs her to be now.





	From the Ashes

**Author's Note:**

  * For [FreyReh](https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreyReh/gifts).



The pain came out of nowhere, nearly knocking her off her feet. Laurel gasped, staggering in place as her hand shot out to grip the wall. The force of the pain caused her to partially shift, her claws digging in to the wall as her hands clenched.

It felt like someone was ripping her apart piece by piece. It was like being burned from the inside out and she sucked in a breath as tears of grief blurred her vision.

Her pack was dying.

She shoved away from the wall and shot out the door, barely managing to pull the shift back so that she looked fully human again as she ran out of her apartment and then down the stairs and out the building.

She didn’t bother with her car. The fastest way to get to her parents’ house would be through the woods and so she turned and ran in that direction the moment she was outside.

Today was supposed to be a celebration. The whole pack—the Lances, the Queens, and the Merlyns—were gathering at Quentin and Dinah’s house because Sara had met her mate, a human named Leonard who had not only taken the werewolf reveal well but had readily agreed to come meet the rest of the pack this weekend. Everyone had agreed to make sure they were in town so that they could meet him.

And now they were dying.

Laurel fought back a scream of rage, the instinct to blend in with the humans guiding her even now thanks to her mother’s teachings. It was something that all of the adults in the pack had been adamant about when she and the others had been kids. Blend in. Don’t draw too much attention to yourself by doing things a regular human couldn’t. Always follow the Code. They were rules she had learned to live by and so she waited until she had entered the woods to increase her speed and let her eyes flash gold.

She was maybe only ten minutes in when she stumbled, falling to her knees as fire spread through her veins and her eyes changed from gold to red, declaring to the world that she was now an alpha. 

Laurel didn’t bother to hold in the scream of rage and grief this time.

Her father, her alpha, was dead.

She only allowed herself a few moments of screaming before she stopped, focusing on her control.

She could still feel some of her pack. Some of them were still alive. But the combination of losing too many pack members at once and becoming the alpha made it impossible to tell who the bonds belonged to. Still, the fact that she had any pack bonds left at all was enough to get her back on her feet.

Someone had survived. She just had to find out who.

That thought drove her the rest of the way to her parents’ house until she burst through the tree line, stumbling to a halt as she took in the absolute destruction of her childhood home and the two homes on either side of it. She choked on a sob as she fell to her knees again, watching the way the firefighters worked frantically to get the flames under control. The flashing lights of the ambulance drew her attention and she pushed herself to her feet. 

If there was an ambulance then that had to mean someone was alive to need it. She refused to think otherwise.

“Laurel,” Digg, one of the police officer from town, called as he jogged up to her.

She tore her gaze from the house and turned to him. “Did everyone get out?” she asked. She knew, of course, that her father hadn’t. And she was certain that her mother hadn’t either. Neither of her parents would have left the house if a member of the pack was still in there. But she couldn’t tell Digg any of that since he wasn’t one of the humans that knew about the supernatural.

He shook his head, looking down briefly before lifting his eyes to meet her. “I’m so sorry, Laurel. So far, it looks like the only two to make it out were Thea Queen and Malcolm Merlyn. We found them just outside the door. He had taken the brunt of the flames by covering her body with his but it looks like they’d been knocked out by some of the debris.” He took a deep breath. “Thea’s awake. Malcolm hasn’t woken up yet. They’re loading him in the ambulance now.”

Laurel closed her eyes. Two. Only two had made it out of the fire. She wasn’t surprised that Malcolm had protected Thea as best he could. She was his daughter, after all. His mate, Rebecca, had been killed by rogue hunters as had Moira’s human mate, Robert. They’d been out coming back in to town after handling a few things for the pack when they’d been killed. It hadn’t mattered to those hunters that Robert was human and Rebecca had never broken the Code. They’d killed them anyway. 

Her father had used his position on the police force to make it look like a car accident and he’d given his permission to take out the ones that had killed their pack mates. Moira and Malcolm had seen to it themselves and then, when that had barely appeased their rage, taken their aggression out on each other by falling in to bed for what her mother had called “a bout of ill-advised comfort sex fueled by grief”. The result had been Thea and the people of Starling City had simply assumed that Robert had been killed before he and Moira found out she was pregnant. People thought it was sweet that Malcolm had helped his friend through their mutual grief by helping with the baby and becoming a father figure to her over the years. Only the pack had known the truth and Oliver and Tommy had always gotten a kick out of playing big brother over the years.

“No one else?” she asked, already knowing the answer.

“No.” Digg blew out a breath. “I’m so sorry, Laurel.”

She nodded. “Thank you, Digg.” Laurel swallowed. “I’m going to go check on Thea, if that’s okay.”

“Of course.”

She had only taken a couple of steps when her phone rang. Only a few people would be calling her now and she yanked out her phone, nearly falling to her knees once more, in relief this time, at the sight of the name on her caller ID. She quickly accepted the call.

“Sara?” she said, unable to stop the sob from escaping this time. “Oh God, Sara, I thought you were in the house.” When she noticed Digg’s eyes widen she nodded at him and walked away so that he wouldn’t hear the fact that she wasn’t going to have to tell Sara that their pack was dead.

“I’m with Leonard,” Sara replied, her voice shaky with grief and tears on the other end. “We left later than we were supposed to and then I felt...I felt them. Leonard pulled over for me so that he could help me keep control.”

Laurel felt a surge of gratitude towards Leonard. “Good. That’s...that’s good.”

“They’re both dead, aren’t they?”

She nodded despite the fact that Sara couldn’t see her. “I became the alpha before I had even reached the house,” she confirmed softly. She licked her lips. “No one but Thea and Malcolm made it out and Malcolm...he hasn’t woken up yet.”

Sara made a choked noise that suggested she was holding back more tears and she heard a muffled “Oh God.” A few moments later, Leonard, who she had only met through Skype before, came on the line.

“Laurel, I’m so sorry,” he said. “Other than getting there, do you need anything else from us?”

From us. She let out a breath at the way he said it. “No. I just need you both to get here.” She hesitated. “I...I know you were going to officially become part of the pack this weekend by meeting everyone. If...if that’s not something you want now that—“

“I’m not leaving Sara,” he interrupted. “If I’m still welcome in the pack, then that’s what I want.”

“As far as I’m concerned, you’re already pack. We just need to do the face-to-face acknowledgement for you to be able to feel the bonds as well,” Laurel told him. “I’m going to check on Thea and Malcolm. We’ll probably be at the hospital by the time you guys get here.”

“Then that’s where we’ll head.”

She nodded. “I’ll see you two when you get here.” 

“We’ll get there as fast as we can,” Leonard promised.

She allowed herself a small smile. “Thank you, Leonard.”

“I figure that’s what pack does,” he said. She didn’t get a chance to respond before Sara was back on the line.

“I’m in control enough that we can get back on the road,” Sara assured her though her voice was still choked. “We’re on our way, okay, sis?”

Laurel nodded. “Stay safe. I love you, sis.”

“Always and forever,” Sara replied in their usual exchange. 

Laurel hung up and took a deep breath to gather herself, freezing when she caught a hint of a scent that shouldn’t be here. A scent that she knew very well and had made her smile every single time she’d breathed it in over the last few months.

Oak and toffee with the hint of ozone as if lightning had struck and burned the air.

Mick.

She spun in the direction that she’d caught the scent and did her best not to draw attention to herself as she made her way over there. It was the house that the Queens had lived in and she carefully moved closer.

“Laurel!”

She spun at the sound of Thea’s voice and turned just as the teenager shoved passed the paramedic that was trying to get her in the ambulance. A moment later she had her arms wrapped around the girl that was like a second little sister to her.

“Thea,” she breathed.

“They’re all gone. Everyone but Dad,” Thea sobbed, pressing her face against Laurel’s neck. 

Laurel ran a hand over Thea’s hair and pressed a kiss to her temple. “I know.” She pressed her lips together for a moment. “Sara and Leonard are on their way. I talked to them on the phone.”

Thea closed her eyes and let out a sigh of relief. “Really?”

“Yes.” Laurel squeezed Thea lightly before pulling back so that she could meet Thea’s eyes with her own. “I want you to go with Malcolm to the hospital.” Her eyes moved lower and focused on the burns on Thea’s arm. “I can smell the wolfsbane. It’ll keep the burns from healing for a bit and that’ll be enough to keep anyone from asking questions. We’ll take care of them once they clear you, okay? But I want you to stay with Malcolm for now.”

Thea’s gaze sharpened. “You found something already?”

Laurel hesitated. “I’m not sure. But I’m not taking the chance of leaving him alone in that hospital when he can’t defend himself. I’ll check things out around here and Sara and Leonard are going to head straight to the hospital. Once I’m done here, I’ll head over there too.” 

After a few moments, Thea nodded. “Okay,” she agreed. 

They headed back to the ambulance where they had just finished loading up Malcolm and Laurel had to fight not to growl as the scent of his pain and burned flesh reached her. 

“I’m going with him,” Thea announced. She glanced at Laurel. “You’ll be at the hospital soon?”

Laurel nodded. “As soon as I can,” she promised. She watched as Thea was helped in to the back and waited until she couldn’t see the ambulance any longer before she turned back in the direction of the Queen house, silently praying that she was wrong.

The scent ( _Mick’s scent_ , she thought to herself) wound to the back of the houses, strongest in the places where the scent of wolfsbane and chemicals lingered, and she followed it to each point at each house until she spotted a familiar sweatshirt dropped carelessly in the backyard of her parents’ house.

A green hoodie that Oliver had complained had been lost to the depths of the Lance’s house since he hadn’t been able to find it since the last time he’d been over a few days ago. He’d called just that morning to make sure that it hadn’t migrated in to Laurel’s laundry somehow because it was his favorite and it was driving him nuts not being able to find it. She’d teased him on his disturbing codependency with a sweatshirt while Tommy mocked him in the background, dramatically calling for the hoodie using a terrible version of Shakespearean language (“Oh hoodie, green hoodie, where dost thou hide? Come to me and I will never let thee out of my fevered sight!”) and practically cackling when Oliver told him to shut up then promptly demanded to know what the hell fevered sight even meant.

A hoodie that had gone missing after she’d brought Mick over because she’d forgotten something.

_“You don’t mind if we make a quick detour, do you?” Laurel asked._

_Mick shot her a quick smile. “Just point me in the right direction.”_

_“Great. I left my laptop at my parents’ place yesterday and I definitely need that tonight,” she said before giving him directions on which streets to turn on. The moment they stopped, Laurel was out of the car. “Come on in. It’ll be a bit because I’m pretty sure I forgot to turn it off.”_

_He laughed even as he walked up behind her, wrapping an arm around her waist and ducking down to press a kiss to her shoulder. “Isn’t that supposed to be bad for those?”_

_“Probably.” She shrugged as she tapped in the code to disarm the security system then smiled back at him. “I’ll be right back.”_

_“No problem.” A few moments after she’d gone upstairs, he called, “Hey, I left my phone in the car. I’m going to go and grab it real quick.”_

_“Okay!”_

Laurel let out a shuddering breath because she suddenly knew that the hoodie had been right there in the living room and he’d probably just taken it and tossed it in his trunk while grabbing the phone that he’d deliberately left in his car because he hadn’t been lying about that. His heart hadn’t skipped at all when he’d said that. She reached out with a shaky hand to pick up the hoodie and then paused. Did she leave that for the cops to find so they could use it as evidence? Did she take it so that the others could get Mick’s scent?

“Oh God, Dad, what do I do?” she whispered. She closed her eyes and tried to imagine what he’d tell her now and it was suddenly very easy to decide what to do.

She picked up the hoodie and made her way back around the house, only stopping to talk to Dinah Drake, another officer, and tell her that she was going to the hospital unless they needed her for anything. She made sure Digg didn’t see her leaving since he’d know that she hadn’t had the hoodie with her when she arrived and made her way back to her apartment building, cutting through the woods again. 

Laurel couldn’t honestly say how long it had taken her to get back to her place but once she was there, she grabbed a plastic bag and shoved the hoodie in it, sealing it closed. That should keep the scent from disappearing until she could let Sara and Thea memorize it.

Lips trembling, Laurel dropped on to the couch as she covered her face and started to cry.

Mick. Oh God, it had been Mick that had killed her pack. Her very human boyfriend who she had just gotten her father’s permission to tell about werewolves so that he could meet the pack too. The man that she had happily told Sara, her mom, Moira, and Thea about, saying that he might just be her mate. The man that Oliver and Tommy had made plans to jokingly threaten while Malcolm had smirked and offered them tips to make said threats more intimidating and her dad had rolled his eyes.

He’d known. He’d known the whole time that she was a werewolf, that she was part of a pack. But none of them had broken the Code, they never had, which meant that he was rogue. A rogue hunter and she’d fucking let him in to her alpha’s house. She hadn’t thought twice at having him at her back or entering the security code in front of him. She’d happily told him all about how her entire family was going to be at the house tonight and this weekend because Sara was bringing her boyfriend home for the first time. She’d teased him about being next and reveled in it when he’d laughed and agreed. Because he hadn’t smelled of wolfsbane and that was a sure sign of a hunter. The scent of it lingered on hunters for months even after they hadn’t used it.

But Mick hadn’t demonstrated any of the signs that they looked for. He hadn’t smelled of wolfsbane, he hadn’t hidden things, he’d...

Laurel muffled a scream against her hands. He’d told her that he loved her and his heart had stayed steady. No stutter, nothing to indicate that he was lying.

Mick was her mate and instead of being with her, he’d used that to kill her pack. 

She let herself cry for another half hour or so before she took a deep breath and scrubbed her hands over her face. There was no use trying to hide the fact that she’d been crying. Even if she covered it up, Thea and Sara would be able to smell the tears. If Malcolm was awake, so would he. She took one more deep breath and then grabbed the plastic bag and her keys, heading down to her car.

She wasn’t sure how she managed to keep from running in to anyone or anything but she managed it. Rather than drive around, she took the first parking spot she could find and then headed straight inside, leaving the bag on the floor of the front seat. Laurel didn’t bother asking what floor she needed to go to, once she focused, she could pinpoint Thea’s heartbeat not too far away.

As soon as she walked in to the waiting room for the ER, Thea stood up. She didn’t run forward but she also didn’t sit back down until Laurel was next to her, clutching her hand.

“Have they said anything?” Laurel asked.

Thea shook her head. “They’re still working on him.”

Laurel wanted to scream. It was a feeling she was becoming all too familiar with. “Then we’ll wait.”

Thea eventually fell asleep, her head on Laurel’s shoulder and Laurel wanted to, she desperately wanted to because she hurt and she was tired but she also couldn’t bring herself to relax enough to fall asleep here. Every time she came close, her eyes would fly open. She kept that up for another hour almost until she heard a very familiar heartbeat.

Her head whipped towards the doorway and minutes later, Sara ran in, Leonard only a few steps behind her. Laurel couldn’t stop the way her eyes flashed at the first sight of her sister, alive and in front of her. Sara’s eyes flashed gold in response and then she was moving forward to hug Laurel, her head tipped slightly to the side in acknowledgement of Laurel as her alpha.

Sara ran a hand over Thea’s hair the way that Laurel had earlier before straightening and moving back to grip Leonard’s hand. At any other time, Laurel would have happily teased Sara about the height difference that she’d never noticed before since they were usually just sitting or lying down when on Skype. But not now. Not this time.

Laurel gently moved Thea so that she was using her jacket for a pillow instead and stood up, moving to stand in front of Sara and Leonard. She raised an eyebrow in question and he nodded.

There was nothing fancy that had to be done for someone to become pack. She and Leonard had already been developing a bond thanks to their love for Sara and the various times they’d talked. His actions earlier that day and the way he refused to leave had only confirmed it for her and so she simply slid her hand over the side of his neck, pulling him down slightly as she did so that she could kiss his cheek and squeeze the back of his neck gently. The pack bond flared to life and she smiled when his eyes widened in surprise. 

“Welcome to the pack,” she told him softly.

The feel of the new pack bond slotting in to place had caused Thea to wake up and Laurel hoped that Malcolm could feel it as well, that he knew their pack still had life.

“Sara,” Thea breathed. She launched herself out of her chair and in to Sara’s arms, fighting not to burst in to tears again. She’d cry later when she wasn’t in a waiting room. “I know Laurel said she talked to you guys but—“

“I know,” Sara assured her. “I know.”

Thea turned her head and looked up a bit. “Hi, Leonard.” 

The smile he gave her was tired but also full of genuine fondness. “Hey, Thea.” When she reached out and gripped his hand, he squeezed it lightly in response.

Laurel slid her hand in to Sara’s and squeezed. She could feel the pain, grief, and fury coming from each member of her pack, even Leonard. He hadn’t felt the others die but this weekend had been more formality than anything. They’d all talked to Leonard via Skype at one point or another and he’d become friendly with each of the members of the pack. So while he hadn’t felt them die, he was still grieving them. And now that he was a part of the pack, he could feel the pain that each of them were in over the deaths of the others and he was furious.

They needed to know why this had happened, she decided. What kind of alpha would she be if she started off by lying to her pack?

She took a deep breath. “I need to talk to all of you. Privately.” Part of her wanted to wait until they could all go in to Malcolm’s room but she had no idea how long that would be.

Sara and Leonard glanced at each other and Laurel wanted to laugh and cry at the fact that they were already at the point of silent conversations with each other. It reminded her of her parents.

“The chapel was empty when we came in and it’s not far so we’ll still be here if there’s an update on Malcolm,” Sara suggested.

“And it’s got a door along with glass walls,” Leonard added. “So we’ll be able to make sure it’s just us and we’ll see anyone coming.”

She nodded and gestured for them to lead the way, only pausing to let the nurse at the front desk know if Malcolm Merlyn’s doctor came out, they’d be in the chapel. She knew they’d hear them coming but, once again, her mother’s lessons about blending in rang clear in her mind. The nurse nodded, promising to let the doctor know if they came out, a look of sympathy on her face that Laurel was both annoyed at and grateful for.

The moment the door of the chapel shut behind her, Laurel closed her eyes and released a long breath. When she opened her eyes, she noticed that the others had all sat in one pew, leaving her room to sit by them if she wanted. She wasn’t about to pass that up and she quickly sat next to Sara, who smiled and took Laurel’s hand in hers again. Laurel smiled slightly.

“I’m going to tell you something I realized today,” Laurel said softly, “and if you decide that you no longer want me as your alpha, I’ll understand.” She could feel the alarm that shot through the other three at her words. “If you choose that, I’ll reach out to other alphas and make sure they know it’s nothing you did that has caused you to leave the pack.” She waited until she’d gotten nods from them and then continued, “I’ve been seeing someone the last six months. Mick. Mick Rory. And I recently got Dad’s permission to tell him about werewolves and about the pack because...” She swallowed. “Because he’s my mate.”

“That’s good though, right?” Thea asked. “That’s...I mean, he’s your mate. He’s pack.”

Laurel’s lips trembled and she shook her head. “Do you remember how Oliver had been whining about not being able to find his favorite hoodie the last couple of days?” she asked them rather than answer.

“He even called me to make sure that it hadn’t somehow magically traveled a few hours away on its own,” Sara said, lips twitching as she remembered that call before her breath hitched.

“I had invited Mick to be there tonight. Told him that you and Leonard were driving in today so that Leonard could meet the family.” Her grip on Sara’s hand tightened. If Sara and Leonard had left at the time they had originally planned to, they both would have been in the house when the fire started. “He said he couldn’t make it because he had something important to do.” Her breath hitched as she remembered that conversation.

_“Important, huh?” Laurel wrapped her arms around his waist and tilted her head back to look up at him._

_“Life and death important,” Mick promised._

A surge of anger swept through her as she remembered that response. Life and death. Mocking her with her pack’s death already and she hadn’t even known it.

“Laurel?” Sara prompted.

“He couldn’t make it,” Laurel repeated. “So when I caught his scent at the house on my way to check on Thea, I followed it. And at the end of that trail, I found Ollie’s hoodie.” Her breath hitched. “I had to stop at the house the other day and Mick was with me. I didn’t think anything of leaving him in the living room while I went upstairs to get my laptop.”

“Of course not,” Sara agreed, thinking of Leonard. She reached back with her free hand and squeezed his hand. “He’s your mate. Why wouldn’t you trust him?” She ignored the way her stomach twisted as she thought of why Laurel might be telling them about Mick like this and prayed she was wrong. Judging by the grip Leonard had on her hand in return, she had a feeling he was thinking the same thing she was.

“His scent was on the hoodie,” Laurel said. “It was in our backyard. His scent was all over the backyards but it was strongest in the areas where I could also smell wolfsbane and chemicals. He...he killed them. My mate killed our pack.” Her voice broke on the last word and she covered her face again as she began to cry again.

Immediately, Sara let go of Leonard’s hand and pulled Laurel in to a hug. “It’s not your fault,” she said fiercely, her heart aching at the betrayal and guilt Laurel was feeling.

“His heart didn’t even stutter or anything when he said he loved me,” Laurel sobbed. “He meant it and it didn’t matter to him. He still killed them.” She shook her head. “My mate’s a hunter that doesn’t follow the Code and I couldn’t even tell.”

“He used you,” Leonard told her from Sara’s other side. “That’s not your fault. What it feels like...I might be human but I still felt it just as strongly as Sara when we just...clicked. It’s not your fault that his own prejudices were more important to him. And it’s his fucking loss.”

Laurel let out a teary laugh at that. She’d learned a long time ago that Leonard wasn’t the type to sugarcoat anything so she knew he meant exactly what he said.

“He’s right,” Thea agreed, voice hoarse. “Laurel, finding your mate is supposed to be an amazing thing and he twisted that. It’s not your fault.” She scrambled over Leonard and Sara so that she could sit on Laurel’s other side and hug her. “You’re still my alpha.”

“Damn right,” Sara agreed.

“Like I’m walking away five minutes after I joined,” Leonard added.

Laurel felt a surge of relief and gratitude that her pack was sticking by her. They hadn’t blamed her, they hadn’t berated her. Instead, they were standing by her and refusing to leave.

“Thank you,” she breathed. She sniffed and let the scent of pack give her strength before she pulled back. “I have the hoodie in a sealed bag in my car. I want the two of you to memorize his scent.”

Sara and Thea nodded and then Laurel focused on Leonard.

“It’s not a requirement,” she told him. “But I wanted to ask you if you wanted the bite.”

Leonard shook his head. “I thought about it,” he admitted. “Back when Sara told me everything. But I’d like to stay human.” He met her eyes. “Besides, at this point, I think at least one human in the pack would be good.” He didn’t come out and say it but they were all thinking the same thing—having at least one human would be beneficial if they ever needed someone to break a mountain ash line or handle wolfsbane to get the poison out of one of the wolves.

She nodded in acceptance. “Okay. I just wanted to be sure.” She took a deep breath. “Which brings me to my next question. If you’re dying and the bite would save you, do I have your permission to give you the bite?” 

This time, Leonard nodded. “You do. If the bite will save me, do it.” He pressed a kiss to Sara’s head when she was unable to hide her relief. “I plan to stick around as long as I can.”

“I’d have respected your choice if it was a no but I’m so glad you said yes to that,” Sara admitted.

“What are we going to do now?” Thea asked.

Laurel wiped her eyes. “We’re going to help Malcolm heal. We’re going to rebuild and we’re going to put more exit routes in the new house.” She took a deep breath. “And we’re going to hunt down Mick.”

“What are you going to do when you find him?” Sara asked. She knew what they would usually do to someone that had harmed their pack like this. But she also knew this was Laurel’s mate and she wondered if Laurel would be able to do it. If their positions were reversed, Sara honestly wasn’t sure if she’d be able to.

Laurel’s eyes hardened and Sara suddenly knew exactly what her answer would be. “I’m going to kill him.”

**Author's Note:**

> There will come a year where I don't write tragedy for your birthday, Frey. This year is not that year.


End file.
